So many names of this young pharaoh. Which on to use? Perplexed? Don’t worry? You are at the right place.
This blog post will clear each and every confusion that you might have.
Stick around to know shocking facts about Tutankhamun that you have never heard before!
To begin with, British archaeologist Howard Carter along with Lord Carnarvon uncovered the king’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings. And immediately after World War I got over, Howard began a thorough search for the tomb of the king.
However, unlike his father Pharaoh Akhenaton (Amenhotep IV), he was a ‘minor’ king. He became king just at the age of nine. Moreover, he ruled for 10 years and died at an early age of nineteen.
Fact: Tutankhamun was a mysterious king. He has few mentions in the history of Egypt. Also, succession after Akhenaton and his full family in still unknown.
Surprisingly, his original name was Tutankhaten, meaning, “Living Image of Aten”. This was an indication that his parents were worshippers of “the Aten”, a sun god.
As few years went by, he stopped idolising the Aten and started to worship god Amun. This encouraged him to change his name from Tutankhaten to Tutankhamun.
Did You Know? In spite of just ruling for 10 years, Tutankhamun actually had five names. Namely,
Although he had so many names, ancient Egyptians also called him by his first name “Nebkheperure”. This literally means “Re is the Lord of Manifestations”. (Re, the sun god)
For a fact, his sarcophagus (a box-like stone container) held three different coffins. The outermost coffins were made of wood and covered with a sheet of gold.
Shockingly, the innermost coffin was made completely out of gold. SOLID GOLD!! Can you believe that?
In addition, the image of King Tut was carved on the coffin. But today it the deposits of chemicals have destroyed the charm of the coffin.
FACT: The coffin in which Tutankhamun was buried is the Most Expensive Coffin in the World.
Howard Carter stated that, “the coffin was not like shining gold but it had a thin black layer from top to bottom. Despite that, his mummy was in really good condition unlike any other pharaoh.
Moreover, his mummy lying inside the coffin still holds the crook and flail. They were considered to be the ultimate weapons of the king.”
MUST KNOW: The interesting part about his coffin is the DEATH MASK! It is really one of the most amazing pieces of Egyptian art ever. Howard discovered it during his research.
For many years, many Egyptian people believed in the “curse of the kings”. It meant that ‘anyone who entered the tomb will die early’.
According to a survey, out of 58 people who were present inside the tomb, eight people died within a few years. All others are still alive. This also included Howard Carter, who died at the age of 64.
In the end, only god knows if this is really a curse or just stories made by people for fun!!
Ancient Egyptians believed that after a person dies, the brain is of no use (they didn’t know its functions). For them, the only organ that mattered the most was HEART.
So, they used to remove the heart from the kings’ body at the time of mummification and preserved it separately. The entire body of the king was wrapped in bandage giving it a human-like shape.
The heart of Tutankhamun was removed from his body. This may have happened simply because the caretakers were so careless.
In my opinion, another reason could be that he died far away from his home. And before they could realise, the heart may have been too decayed to be preserved.
Since Tutankhamun was a huge fan of iron daggers. He had a huge collection of them. Don’t know what an iron dagger is? It is a one-handed weapon stronger than the bronze dagger.
Fun Fact: The iron daggers were entirely made out of meteorites.
The British archaeologist, during his research, also found two daggers inside the king’s coffin. One had a gold blade while the other had an iron blade. Other items like 16 small blades, a small headrest and an amulet were also found inside the coffin.
In particular, King Tut is famous because he was just buried in a small tomb unlike any other king in the Egyptian history. In fact, his tomb was never looted!
(This gave a chance to the modern world to actually see the riches of the minor king of ancient Egypt.)
Moreover, Tutankhamun’s history and life is displayed in a museum in Cairo. This has attracted many tourists from around the world (that helped in Egypt Tourism).
Many movies have been made on Tutankhamun’s life. If you are a movie fan like I am, you might interest yourself with of the movies listed above:
All thanks to Howard Carter who actually discovered the tomb. Because of this, the world could get an opportunity to finally see the hidden treasures of ancient Egypt. But still there are great possibilities of new discoveries in modern day Egypt!
“I am that person who dropped her B.Tech (really!) and chose to travel, specifically travel blogging. I’m Manmeet Kaur, a crazy, fun loving and adventurous person from Delhi. I knew I had an interest in writing since I was in school. I didn’t want to be an engineer, doctor or I would say a teacher. My plans were different. I wanted to travel which I guess no one, specially girl had chosen to do in my family for a living. And like other human beings on this planet I have big dreams too. But my ultimate dream is to travel the world and share my experiences through writing and blogging.” 🙂
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